


This Unexpected Life (The Healing Hearts Remix)

by inksheddings



Category: Star Trek (2009)
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-17
Updated: 2012-04-17
Packaged: 2017-11-03 20:30:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/385614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inksheddings/pseuds/inksheddings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Life never goes the way you expect it, and Leonard isn't conceited enough to think he's the only one who's figured that shit out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	This Unexpected Life (The Healing Hearts Remix)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [echoinautumn (maybetwice)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/maybetwice/gifts).
  * Inspired by [The Heart of Life](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/7967) by echoinautumn. 



> Thank you to my accommodating betas, whymzycal and MidniteMarauder. ♥ 
> 
> Thank you, echoinautumn, for allowing me the enjoyment of remixing. I hope you like it, even just a bit.
> 
> This original story is an AU, in which Bones is still a doctor but Jim is a paramedic. I decided to keep that aspect, because I found it kind of charming.

** This Unexpected Life (The Healing Hearts Remix) **

Leonard had delivered three babies over one hellishly long shift. It seemed the third time was the charm. The last couple of hours at the hospital had been relatively peaceful considering how his day had started, and now he was finally off to meet Jim at the nearby diner. 

Not that his day had started horrendously, or anything. Waking up with Jim draped all over him had become a comfort of sorts, even with the risk of suffocation. But then he'd had to disentangle from Jim's limbs, trying hard not to wake him. What a shock that had been, when Leonard had stopped shoving him off onto the floor because he'd started worrying Jim wasn't getting enough rest. But Jim's work as a paramedic was no picnic, and Leonard figured at least one of them should get some sleep now and then.

Leonard stepped outside the hospital. His feet were aching, his eyes were burning, and he was certain the smell of amniotic fluid clung to his skin no matter that he'd worn gloves and scrubbed himself clean. Before he could make any kind of progress toward the diner and a long overdue cup of coffee, his cell phone rang. The ringtone told him it was his ex-wife, Jules. He hesitated; on the one hand, if he didn't answer, he'd miss a chance to talk with his daughter. On the other, he had a bad feeling the tentative plans they'd been making regarding Christmas were about to crash and burn. Only one way to find out.

"Hey, Jules."

"Is this a good time, Leonard?" Jules asked, and maybe he was just too tired to pick up on anything different, but Leonard thought she sounded sincere.

Crap. Christmas was definitely going down the drain.

"I answered, didn't I?" Leonard replied, knowing he sounded harsh but unable to help himself. "Shit. Yeah, it's fine." He sat down on the metal bench just outside the sliding doors that led to the emergency room. Perfect. He might as well be physically uncomfortable, too.

"Okay, then," Jules said, clearing her throat. 

Leonard braced himself, knowing that particular tic of hers meant she was about to tell him something he probably wouldn't like.

"I was giving some thought to Christmas, and—"

Leonard felt frozen inside and out but managed to push the thought in his head out through his mouth anyway.

"No."

Jules was silent for a few seconds. "Pardon?"

"No, Jules. It's gonna be Christmas. I haven't had Joey for that particular holiday since we were divorced. You said I could have her this year, for the whole damn day. Even if I'm the one traveling to your neck of the woods, and I want her, damn it, I—"

"Leonard."

"—need to have her this year, it's important, for fuck's sake, and—"

"Leonard."

"—it's not just me anymore, Jules, I've got someone who should have met Joey a long time ago but I had my head up my ass, as I'm sure you're not surprised to hear—"

"Oh, for fuck's sake, Leonard, _shut up._ "

It wasn't the fact that Jules had told him to shut up that made Leonard lose his train of thought and close his mouth. It was the fact that she'd cussed. Jules hardly ever cussed. The angrier she got, the better her vocabulary and grammar got, until Leonard had felt like some uneducated ignoramus whenever they had one of their truly spectacular blow-outs.

So Leonard shut up and waited for the other shoe to drop.

Jules took a deep breath. "I thought, maybe, instead of just having Joey for Christmas Day you'd like to take her for a few days after that. Spend some time with her."

Leonard didn't know what to say, which was probably for the best, because he was pretty sure his vocal cords had sealed up tight. A few days. A few days with his girl, all to himself.

"Joey's been … asking about you, lately. I thought it might be good for her to find out, first hand—"

"What an asshole I really am?" Leonard finished, his voice still not terribly strong, but he couldn't resist the old joke between them from back when she was pregnant. If she was using that now to calm him down, then she was serious. He could have his daughter, he could have Joey.

"Leonard, if you can't do it—"

"Yes, Jules. Jesus, yes. Of course. I'd love that." 

Leonard heard Jules breathe in deeply and knew it must have been hard for her to offer this considering how bad things had been between them. Not that he felt much sympathy. He held his share of the blame firmly inside his heart, but the rest was hers to do with as she pleased.

"Okay, then, we'll work out the details soon, yeah?"

"Yeah." Leonard closed his eyes and leaned his head against the wall, a lot of the day's tension draining out onto the dirty concrete, where he could stomp all over it when he made his way over to the diner to meet Jim. For now, he was content to sit and plan out the next few months in his head: coordinating time off with Jim for the extended trip, scraping together the money so they could actually _do_ something with Joey, telling Jim the good news and—oh. Oh, shit. 

"So, Leonard? You still there?"

"Uh, yeah. Jules, I'm here. Can I talk to Joey?" Maybe she hadn't picked up on that little tidbit when he'd been ranting and raving. He was planning on telling her—and telling Joey—about Jim, but not right now when he was burned out from three babies and a fourteen hour shift. 

"At Christmas, will you be bringing your …?"

So much for not picking up on it.

"My …?" Leonard answered with as much orneriness as he could muster under the circumstances.

"Do I need to cuss at you again to get you to answer?"

"Jesus, Jules. Fine. Yes. I won't be coming alone, okay?"

The silence stretched longer than could possibly be good for his health, but Leonard waited it out.

"You're sure, Leonard?" Jules'voice was gentle, and he knew what she was really asking.

"Yeah, Jules. I'm sure. Joey and … well, they should meet." Leonard didn't think Jules would have a problem with Jim, with his gender or anything, but one bridge at a time. Burn one, build two, or some nonsense like that. Besides, he hadn't exactly talked this all out with Jim, and that had to be the next step.

"Okay, Leonard," Jules said in a tone of voice that reminded him of when they first married. Before the long hours they both worked, his father's illness, Leonard's habit of drinking that horror away, and the insecurities of what kind of father he could possibly make when he'd been a piss-poor excuse of a son. Before all that had helped turn their honest-to-god conversations into screaming matches. 

Several seconds passed without either of them saying a word and Leonard started feeling uncomfortable. Plus his ass was falling asleep. He cleared his throat. "Is Joey still up?" 

Jules didn't say anything else, but there was a shuffling and muffled talk and …

"Hey, Dad."

The tension eased from his shoulders, and Leonard didn't even mind the idiotic smile that took over his face as he sat on an uncompromising bench after a hellishly long shift.

 

*****

Life never goes the way you expect it, and Leonard wasn't conceited enough to think he was the only one who'd figured that shit out. But crawling into bed with Jim at fuck-all o'clock in the morning, after a fourth baby brought had him back on shift, felt like a revelation.

Jim rolled into him, swinging a leg over Leonard's hip and kissing his throat. "You made it," he said, and Leonard felt the smile pressed into his skin. 

Leonard wanted to say something, but it would've ended up being horribly sappy considering the day's events and how unbelievable tired he was. He delivered four babies, had a civil conversation with Jules, talked to his daughter about Christmas, and even managed to sneak in a quick visit with Jim at the diner before baby number four demanded his presence. Still … sappy. So Leonard just pulled Jim on top of him—he'd end up there anyway—and kissed him. 

Jim laughed and, despite the time, Leonard didn't feel quite so worn out anymore.

"Merry Christmas, Bones," Jim said, giving one final kiss to Leonard's chest before he settled his body into the usual blanket position.

"It's not Christmas yet," Leonard protested, half-heartedly.

"Feels like it," Jim whispered before Leonard felt his body relax back into sleep.

Even if Jim had still been awake, Leonard wouldn't have disagreed.

 

**end**


End file.
